Category: Parenting

Vacation to Taipei!

if you fail to plan, you plan to fail Your plan goes out the window anyway

We had been rather nervous about how Sam would react during the ascent / descent of the plane. We heard numerous horror stories of wailing children and embarrassed parents. So, like all good parents we planned on giving him his bottle during these times, prepared toys, assigned roles for the worst case scenario…Mr Wong slept through the entire process of ascending and descending (I wonder if his ears popped). He woke when the plane stabilized. Now, us sleep deprived parents and grandparents were left with FIVE, unplanned hours of entertaining a very rested (AND RESTLESS) child. OH JOY!

Your idea of enjoyment shifts – drastically

What would previously have been a whirlwind tour of the destination city, has now regressed to relaxing long strolls (in lovely cool weather) to the destinations (for this a stroller is essential – a moving rice sack is rather heavy). Also, a nap (for the WHOLE family) in the afternoons are a great way to spend a holiday.

In spite of our leisurely pace, we managed to hit some of the recommended places to visit:

On this trip we also found pre-packed baby food to be really convenient but also produced really smelly poo, probably more intense than the 臭豆腐 (stinky tofu)we ate at the 夜市 (night market).

Sam the tour leader

Our plans had to be fluid and were dictated by our little tour leader. We ended up abandoning our plans to Jiufen to roam Taipei instead. The timings for the transport were not favourable and would have affected Sam’s bedtimes.

All things considered, it was a really enjoyable first plane ride and trip with Sam and Grandparents! Onward to the next adventure! Perth!

Last weekend: When we proved (to ourselves, at least) that post-offspring-spontaneity is not dead.

So here’s the scene, diaper and milk powder supplies were running low. Like any Singaporean family, we had to make a quick dash in to JB to stock up for the impending apocalypse (i.e., a catastrophic* event where cloth diapers are involved).

* 10 months in, Sam’s poo now smells like the zoo, specifically the zebra enclosure – if you’ve been there specially to appreciate the aromas. Some days, tardiness in taking out the trash results in… fermented Sam’s poo.

Mid-way through lunch at Nando’s (because Singaporeans can’t get Nando’s in Singapore), we decided, on a whim, that it was an excellent idea to stay the night in JB. We had with us our diaper bag^ containing (aka Surviving-JB-with-a-child guide):

The clothes on our back + 1 extra top (but hey, never mind what the parents have / need)

2 milk bottles

2 rompers (we keep handy in the diaper bag)

1 baby hoodie

some baby snacks

^stroller and baby carrier not included in the bag.

We had no choice(I know right!?) but to book a premium room at the Renaissance hotel (which we highly recommend by the way – there’s also plenty of street food in the immediate vicinity). WHAT A LAST MINUTE DECISION IT WAS! The free food and drinks (including wine and beer) at the lounge were a nice bonus!

Photo of irresponsible considerate parents hiding in the lounge to play with phones cos the baby was already in bed.

Photo showing responsible parents having supper in the toilet so baby is always supervised.

We enjoyed this trip thoroughly and even learnt a few things along the way. Specifically:

Hotel toilets ARE decent places to have supper – flush before use.

We require surprisingly few things to make things work – excess only temporarily allays your worries/fears

Always pack an extra phone charger with you – saves the hassle of charging from the TV’s USB port

Your life doesn’t have to, and should not revolve around your offspring (or does it?)

This new generation will probably NOT know why we ‘pick up the phone’ what a telephone is.

We all have done some strange things in life. Some you were aware of, like pooping in your grandfather’s hand (I found out that photo evidence is incriminating). While some of your strange, past actions live in the depths of your parents’ memories, only to (conveniently, embarrassingly) come up for air during family gatherings.

Sam’s closing in on 9 months in this world. During this time, we’ve accumulated a lifetime of stories (i.e., since last dec) to accidentally tell when he’s older. *hehehehe*

So Sam has recently mastered the art of half crawling half bum-shifting really really quickly, and loves to touch shiny objects. For example, watches, jewelry, and door stops (the magnetic kind that sticks out of the wall). One day, after teleporting around the house, he settled on his favourite door stop in his room. I didn’t think much of it (regular behaviour) till… he sat there for quite a while, hunched over this door stop.

IT. WAS. IN. HIS. MOUTH.

So… Sam the boy that eats magnetic door stops (super hero material?).

Other things that go in his mouth include:

(a) Carrot Sticks

(b) Banana, whole or otherwise

and, (c) (Venetian) Blind Control Strings

We probably live in a gingerbread house or something.

His pace and agility has also got him in strange places. Like scooting under the SOFA, yes, UNDER the sofa. You’ll have to see it to believe it (refer to insta story on 1 Sep 17). Never had so many IG responses till that story. At least he’s now able to babble to let us know his whereabouts.

It was a busy month of April for us. Renovation started for our new place and we’ve been scampering around the SG looking for the necessary (and some not so necessary) parts of our new home. Hence, the lack of updates. Sam’s growing up pretty quickly, he’s now 5 months old. He can flip*, but […]

It was a busy month of April for us. Renovation started for our new place and we’ve been scampering around the SG looking for the necessary (and some not so necessary) parts of our new home. Hence, the lack of updates.

Sam’s growing up pretty quickly, he’s now 5 months old. He can flip*, but has yet to flip back around. But hey, no problem, he commands his two hand servants to reset him to his original position.

*NOTE: flip = roll from his back onto his tummy. It does not mean he can do a backflip. I’ll be the first to let you know when he does.

There have been a few knocks and bruises recently. Although we do our best to protect him, we don’t catch all his falls – he recently face-planted a toy (that was innocently minding its’ own business) in the church creche. This led to loud wailing, and later on giving way to some whimpering, mainly from the shock of the impact rather than pain that he probably experienced – we think we know, because he was laughing 5 seconds after his immunisation jab.

Mugshot of toy in question:

We are starting to feel like we cannot protect him forever. Currently it’s physical protection, but as he grows, he will face greater challenges in life that we may not be able to do anything about. Even now, he has already been a subject of comparison with his peers – unnecessary and unhealthy at this age.

As parents, we hope to equip him well to face these challenges. And on our part learn to let go at the appropriate time(s). Probably easier said than done. We will do our best when the time comes.

BANG! a sudden, loud sound (usually a cough or sneeze) startles Sam awake. Light slowly fills his eyes as he squints to focus on an unfamiliar place. “keh keh, ahhh guuurrr, where am i?” he wonders aloud to himself.

“Sammmm, you’re at home!” cooed Mummy.

“but but… how!?” said Sam, perplexed.

“Could it really be? I have super powers!? One moment i was at grandma’s, and the next, here, at home!” Sam’s thoughts went wild. “now, if i close my eyes for a bit longer, i’ll end up back at grandma’s!”

10 hours later, Sam the teleporter, is back at grandma’s… sucking on his hands. but that is a story for another day.

Three months of adulting has really changed our lives. we are now, officially, boring adults with a rigid routine. We do the same things at the same time every. single. day. We are no fun at all, we reject invitations for meet ups on purpose, have no sense of spontaneity, and spoil the party by leaving early.

Speaking about early, adulting has made us sleep and wake early. 545am (5am for Vanessa) early actually. to send Sam to grandma’s for the day. while we both head back to work. We also end work earlier to pick him up from grandma’s, then it’s time to head home to settle in for the night. bedtime? 1045pm. wow. so adult.

even during lunch time, adulting behaviour is observed. after buying some stuff during lunch time.

colleague enjoying bubble tea: “hey what did you buy?”

me: “oh no nothing really, just adult things…milk and bread”

colleague: haha! -_-“

Sometimes even a grocery run has to be done during lunchtime.

Adulting also means transiting back to work after maternity leave. It means you miss family a (WHOLE) lot more during the day, and go to great lengths to discreetly extract baby food at the office. And going overseas for a 5 day work trip is a whole lot more than just being away from home. It means missing out on 5 days of watching Sam grow up.

Adulting interrupts this blog post to run a load of laundry… and i’m back…

Our adulting has meant that Sam is allowed to grow up in the best environment as we can provide. He has started sleeping for 6h stretches at night (YAY!), is suddenly much more curious about his surroundings, and acknowledges familiar faces with varied coos.

We are thankful to be able to adult, to adjust to adulting, because the real adults in our lives (our parents) have provided us with a great model to build on, and have offered fantastic support in this phase of our lives.

It’s been 77 days of priceless learning, un-learning and re-learning. With all that learning, let’s go through some idioms today:

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater

Yes, we have come to learn that this is really good advice. It is also really hard to send a baby flying out of the tub (made of metal in times past), water and all. Well, unless you are really strong, we’re not sure how this is possible. The poor fella that first did it, or was the victim of it…

Crying over spilt milk

This has happened to us on a number of occasions. especially when the bottle, full of expressed milk, decides to come loose on a whim, ponding its contents on the floor.

1) we have to clean the mess up, 2) it was hard work producing all that milk, 3) the baby really is crying while we scramble to warm up the milk in the fridge.

crying over spilt milk – justified.

Like taking candy from a baby

Well firstly, babies don’t eat candy nor should they be holding on to any (choking hazard). Not advisable to give your baby solids too soon either. Secondly, if you’re a parent trying to take something (like candy) from a baby, it might not be that easy, given how hard it is to pry open their fingers.

Be left holding the baby

ohhh wow, this is a tough one. Holding the baby is enjoyable on most accounts, except…

(a) when he is screaming his head off wanting milk

(b) he is dripping with vomit

(c) is dripping with pee

(d) and ewwww… dripping with poo

at which time you will quickly put the baby down. We wonder what happened to the first person that experienced this – must have felt an awful sense abandonment.

Sleep like a baby

This is the pinnacle of sleep for both parents and child. How a baby gets to this state is irrelevant once if the baby is in this state.